Check
by Dark Ice Dragon
Summary: There's a new development to M-21's transformation that worries him.


**Summary**: There's a new development to M-21's transformation that worries him.

Set after season 4.

Inspired by something in 320, but nothing directly spoilery.

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**Check  
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By Dark Ice Dragon

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M-21 bared his teeth at Takeo, a snarl tearing out from the back of his throat as he lunged at the other man, ignoring the biting pain in his abdomen.

He ducked under Takeo's swing and got a glancing blow to Takeo's chin with his fist. It was enough to offset Takeo's balance for a second and M-21 leaped at him, sending them both crashing to the floor.

He pinned Takeo down by the chest and M-21 – stopped, breathing harshly, his heart trying to rip itself from his ribcage.

"M-21 wins this one," he heard to his left, Tao sounding like he was talking from a different room, buzzing filling M-21's ears.

There was a crease between Takeo's eyebrows, his lips at a concerned slant. "M-21? Is something wrong?"

"I…I'm not sure," he admitted, getting off Takeo. As he stood up, he let go of his transformation, controlling his breathing as much as he could.

M-21 was used to the boost in power whenever he transformed but…_that_ had been something different. He had wanted to _win_, putting everything behind attacking, not trying to read Takeo's movements or think ahead like he usually did. If he had been up against an actual opponent, he would have been _dead_.

"Wanna talk about it?" Tao asked, looking at him.

"Later," M-21 said, walking towards where he kept his spare shirts. "I need to talk to Frankenstein first." If his heart was beginning to affect his thoughts, Frankenstein would know.

Tao nodded. "We'll clean up here then."

"Thanks."

xOx

"Frankenstein?" M-21 called out as he stepped into Frankenstein's lab, looking around.

"Yes?" This time, Frankenstein was in front of his whiteboard, a marker in his hand.

M-21 pursed his lips, going over to him. "I know you said you don't know much about werewolves, but…do you know if they sometimes stopped thinking when they were fighting?"

Frankenstein peered at him from under his glasses. "Ah, I see…" He capped his pen and slid it into his chest pocket. Frankenstein motioned him towards the scanner, walking towards the controls.

M-21 did as he was instructed, unbuttoning his shirt.

"I was unable to meet that many werewolves –though there was one I saw semi-frequently- but I _had_ heard that some werewolves started berserking when they approach the peak of their powers."

"…The peak…?" So this was as strong as he would ever get? M-21 lay down on the scanner, frowning.

"This _is_ based off of second-hand accounts though," Frankenstein said, switching the scanner on. "And your human genes interact with your werewolf ones so it's uncertain how strong you will be once you've stabilised."

He would be weaker than a pure-blooded werewolf and M-21 knew it.

The scan didn't take long and Frankenstein was focused on the monitor when M-21 slid out again.

"Your stats have improved since they were last checked," Frankenstein said as M-21 slipped his shirt back on, "but other than that, there are no significant differences."

"So it's not permanent?" M-21 asked, double-checking.

Frankenstein shook his head. "As far as I can currently see, no. However, if you could increase the frequency of your check-ups…?"

M-21 nodded and once he had done up all his buttons, he left to find Tao.

xOx

Tao swung his legs as he drank from his cup, nodding after M-21 had finished. "I'll take that into account." Which was better than M-21's expectation of Tao joking about his werewolf blood again.

Tao hummed, drumming his fingers on his cup.

M-21 eyed him. "What?"

Tao rubbed his chin. "I need to know what you're like in that state so I can recognise it if it happens in the field." He looked at M-21 through his hair. "You do too. You willing?"

Tao had a point and M-21 knew it. And if Frankenstein hadn't found any changes, he should be all right.

M-21 nodded. "After dinner?"

Tao nudged him with an elbow. "Tomorrow – you need to rest between practice, remember?"

"Right, fine."

xOx

M-21 looked around the room at Seira, and then at Takeo, Tao and Regis at the wall. If he did lose complete control, there was little chance he would hurt them badly with _all_ of them there.

"Whenever you're ready," Tao said, having brought a table into the room for his laptop this time, so he wouldn't be sitting.

M-21 nodded, transforming as Seira held up the practice scythe Frankenstein had made for her so she wouldn't blow a hole through his roof. They didn't move for a few seconds, eyeing each other before M-21 dashed towards her, one hand raised above his head to attack.

Seira blocked it, and M-21 swung upwards with his free hand. She leaped back and M-21 closed the distance again.

He threw himself to the side as Seira drove the scythe towards his head. She whirled the scythe in her hands when it missed and M-21 slashed at her.

Seira leaped away rather than defending, which was what M-21 had hoped for and he chased after her, aiming for her shoulder. She batted his hand up with the snath and then swung the head towards his unprotected side.

"Shit!" M-21 tried to twist out the way but the head slammed into him, throwing him into a wall. He hissed, gritting his teeth at the pain, a calmness sweeping through his brain, helping him to focus.

He had seen Seira flying towards him before he hit the wall; baring his teeth at her, M-21 shoved himself off the wall and towards her.

M-21 crashed into the floor, his shoulder throbbing. He lay there dazed, and he heard Seira land close-by.

Growling low at the back of his throat, he scrambled back to his feet, ignoring his dizziness.

"M-21?"

He blinked at his name, breathing harshly, seeing Seira standing a couple feet away. Her scythe was lowered, not raised in attack, but M-21 knew that didn't mean anything.

The buzzing in M-21's head wanted him to just attack, but it wasn't strong enough to overwhelm him. He made sure to keep his attention on it as he nodded, rolling the shoulder Seira had hit, checking how much he had healed.

"I'm…fine." It wasn't exactly a lie – he _was_ feeling better than he'd expected to, still able to think, so long as it didn't worse. He was aware of it now, rather than feeling distant from what was happening.

Seira span her scythe so it was in an attack position, staying where she was.

Once side of M-21's lip twitched up and he was growling again, this time in anticipation rather than anger.

When he was absolutely sure he had control over himself, he slashed at her, continuing the spar.

xOx

M-21 panted, lifting his chin to the scythe head pressed just above his Adam's apple. He'd lost, but he hadn't lost control of _himself_, which was far more important.

He heard Tao whooping as Seira lifted her scythe away, holding out her hand. He took it and Seira pulled him to his feet.

"How you feeling?" Tao asked, walking over.

"Sore," M-21 said wryly, feeling the bruises start to heal.

"I'm all right," Seira said.

Tao grinned and tossed them both an energy bar. "Good job, you two!"

While M-21 and Seira walked to a wall, Tao turned to Takeo and Regis. "Okay, Number 2 and Number 3, you're up next."

"Don't call me Number 3!"

M-21 huffed at the familiar exchange, opening his energy bar, settling down to watch their spar.

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The snath is the handle part of the scythe. I didn't use chine for the head/blade because then it would have been even more confusing.

So I gave up on M-21's and Seira's spar, haha…

But yeah, M-21's in a safe environment, where he's not worrying about his life, so the feralness would/could have been muted compared to what it COULD be in a dangerous situation.


End file.
